This week’s Moves in VC contains 17 Moves and 9 new fund announcements, compiled from 40+ sources.
ICYMI
🔵 Niko Bonatsos left his role as a Managing Director at General Catalyst. More here from Nico →
| The Venture5 Take: I saw the news about Niko. And then I went on a run by the Hudson. As often happens on these runs, an idea popped into my head: “Could I set up a prediction market on the fund he’ll eventually start?” So when I got back to the office, I excitedly set up a Kalshi account hoping to create a way for us all to bet on how big the fund might be and when it might launch. And I quickly found out … random Kalshi users can’t do that! Although they were more than happy to take my money betting on when one of Niko’s seed bets, Discord, will go public! 😆 But since Kalshi won’t let me bet on Niko’s eventual fund, here’s my prediction 👇 If Niko goes solo GP, perhaps with a supporting team, expect a fund in the $150-250M range. If it’s a multi-GP effort, the fund will likely push above $250M. I’d give it a 90% chance the fund closes in 2026. Maybe even in the first half of the year, given his track record. Why those fund sizes? I’m benchmarking against the Fund 1’s of some recent spinouts from larger firms: -Laude (Pete Sonsini, ex-NEA): $150M -Striker (Max Gazor, ex-CRV): $165M -Theory (Tom Tunguz, ex-Redpoint): $230M –Chemistry (Shen/Goldberg/Kurzweil from a16z/Index/Bessemer): $350M So let’s see if I’m right in, oh, 6 months or so 🙂 And if you happen to know folks at Kalshi, forward this on to them. I’d love to be able to actually make a $ bet on this! |
WESTERN US
🟣 Deborah Carrillo became a Partner after five years as General Counsel at Menlo Ventures.
🟣 Emilio Torres joined Altimeter as a Head of Data Science and Engineering. Emilio previously worked at Andreessen Horowitz as a Fund Strategy Partner and was an attendee at our inaugural V5 Summit.
🟣 Sophie Reynolds was promoted from Associate to Senior Associate at Amboy Street Ventures. Amboy Street Ventures is a venture capital fund focused on sexual health & women’s health startups.
🟣 Kelvin Mu was promoted from Principal to Senior Principal at Translink Capital.
🟣 Kevin Ye left his role as a Venture Investing Managing Partner at Mach49. Mach49 helps companies unlock new disruptive growth through venture building and venture investing.
🟣 Anthony Perez was promoted to Finance Vice President at Forerunner. Forerunner is a venture capital firm investing at the intersection of innovation & culture.
🟣 Nick Olsen was promoted to Partner at Innovation Endeavors while Sam Smith-Eppsteiner transitioned from her role as Partner to Venture Partner. Innovation Endeavors is an early stage venture capital firm investing in cutting-edge technologies.
🟣 Ryan JB Taylor was promoted to Principal at Fusion Fund. Fusion Fund is an early stage venture capital fund investing in connected industries, network technologies, AI, and digital health/medical devices.
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EASTERN US
🟠 Kris Kemeny left his role as a Founder and Managing Director at Tekfen Ventures. Tekfen Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in industrial innovations.
MIDWESTERN US
🟢 Jacqueline Lensing was promoted from Analyst to Associate at Grand Ventures. Grand Ventures is an early stage venture fund investing in B2B SaaS companies focused on supply chain, fintech, DevOps, and digital health.
SOUTHEASTERN US
🟡 Blake Hatten was promoted from Associate to Junior Partner at CEAS Investments. CEAS Investments is a family office associated with Leslie Alexander (former owner of the Houston Rockets) that invests in early stage companies.
CANADA
⚪ Shawn Kim was promoted from Associate Director to Investment Director at RBC Capital Partners. RBC Capital Partners, the venture capital and fund investment arm of RBC, invests in enterprise SaaS, fintech, AI, and consumer tech.
⚪ Andrew Tiffin joined Staircase Ventures as an Operating Partner. Andrew previously worked at Shopify as a Chief of Staff to the Chief Revenue Officer. Staircase Ventures leads seed-stage rounds into Canada’s highest potential tech companies.
EUROPE
🔵 Charlotte Barttelot was promoted from Principal to Partner at MMC Ventures. MMC Ventures is a research-driven venture capital fund.
🔵 Jennifer Moreland started a new role as Vice President and Head of bp Ventures. She previously worked at bp as a Treasury Integration Vice President.
🔵 Raffaele Lucantonio was promoted from Senior Associate to Investment Manager at Allianz X. Allianz X invests in the future of financial services.
🔵 Anja Harmeier joined Roche as the Head of Roche Venture Fund. Anja previously worked at Rewind Therapeutics as a CEO.
NEW FUNDS
These firms are ready to write checks, with new funds recently closed.
🔴 Taipei-based AppWorks closed its fourth $165M fund to back founders across AI, Web3, and the digital economy.
🔴 Tel Aviv-based Hetz Ventures closed its new $140M fund to focus on founders building cybersecurity, data, and AI infrastructure companies out of Israel.
🔴 Singapore-based Antler closed its $160M fund to back “manic” founders at inception.
🔴 Tokyo-based NTT Docomo and NTT Docomo Ventures (NDV), along with NTT Finance Corporation, raised a new $95.7M fund.
🔴 New York-based Belief Capital closed its $20M fund to invest in early stage companies focusing on AI, robotics, and infrastructure.
🔴 New York-based FemHealth Ventures has closed a $65m fund to back companies innovating in women’s health.
🔴 London-based Cloudberry Ventures closed its $35M maiden fund to support European founders working at the intersection of semiconductors, photonics and advanced materials.
🔴 Austin-based S3 Ventures announced a $250M Fund VIII to invest in business software and healthcare technology companies.
🔴 New York-based Lux Capital announced their latest $1.5B fund to partner with founders building the infrastructure across AI, automation & bio.
EVENTS
🟣 Virtual: What Founders Are Actually Doing With AI | Hosted by Venture5, January 14, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST. A virtual discussion between VC backed founders about what’s landing, what’s not, and what the patterns look like when you zoom out across startups and how they use AI internally. Check out more details here.
⭕️ San Francisco, CA: Investors in Healthcare Mixer | Hosted by European Healthcare Investor Association and Latham & Watkins, January 11, 4:30 PM – 8:30 PM PST. An exclusive drinks reception for European healthcare investors and corporate leaders to network and discuss healthcare investment trends and opportunities. Check out more details here.
⭕️ San Francisco, CA: BioPioneers @ JPM: Builders, Backers & Biotech | Hosted by BioPioneers, January 15, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST. Informal happy hour during JPM week where founders, investors, operators, and ecosystem leads can connect and chat about biotech. Check out more details here.
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